LEAVENWORTH, Kan.- In what has become a traditional midweek matchup, William Woods (14-9) traveled to the oldest town in Kansas to take on the Spires of The University of St. Mary (5-12). The Owls put up 17 runs in nine-inning contest, amassing 17 hits; six of them being two-baggers.
"Offensively, guys contributed from top to bottom in a timely manner." said head coach John Cavness. "They continue to not get too high or too low. They feed off each other's energy, which is good to see from a coaching perspective."
The Spire offense sent seven hitters to the plate in the first inning, scoring three runs. Leadoff hitter Vasquez-Alvarado earned a walk off in his nine pitch at bat. Following the walk, USM knocked a base hit into center field. Spires three-hole hitter, Ramierez, barreled a double into deep right field bringing the leadoff walk to score as they almost always do. USM was able to scratch two more runs across in the frame on a groundout and a single setting the score at 3-0.
After a quiet second inning, the Owls exploded for a seven-run third inning. Noah Shepherd opened the inning getting on base followed by a base knock by true freshman Camron Casso. With runners on first and second, Ryan Retone saw four pitches to load the bases for Colby Caton. The third baseman for today's contest, Caton barreled a double into left field scoring the first two runs of the contest for William Woods. Another sophomore, centerfielder Kaden Kinsler pulled a fastball into right field for a single to bring home Retone and Caton giving the Owls a 4-3 lead. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Owls' slugger Jacob McWhirter lifted a ball past the right fielder for a double. With runners in scoring position and no outs, Cade Irwin knocked a ball into the right-field corner scoring Kinsler and McWhirter for the fifth and sixth runs of the inning. Irwin at second, and one out, it was the sweet swinging first baseman Brenden Rochelle who barreled the fourth double of the inning for the Owls to score Irwin from second.
Saint Mary was held scoreless in the bottom half of the third inning before scoring one run in the bottom of the fourth. The blazing hot Woods offense tallied four more runs in the top of the fifth inning, two scoring off a base hit by shortstop Camron Casso. The Spires answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, and a lone run in the sixth to set the score at 11-7.
William Woods scored three insurance runs in the top of the eighth inning, earning three walks and two singles in the frame. USM, attempting to match the runs scored by the Owls, plated two in the bottom half of the inning on a home run hit by cleanup hitter Justin Nunez.
The Owls offense plated three more runs in the ninth inning. Camron Casso led off the frame with line drive base hit to center field. Retone, following the same template, laced a ball into right-center field for a base hit. The Woods' Colby Caton hit a ground out to the USM shortstop to score Casso from third. The big bat of Kaden Kinsler brought home the Owls second run of the inning on a double to left field that scored Ryan Retone. Pinch hitter Jude Gremillion tallied the final RBI of the contest for the Owls, knocking a base hit to centerfield to score Kinsler.
The Woods arm barn was able to keep the Spires off the board in the ninth, going on to win 17-9.
William Woods has changed its schedule for this weekend due to the threat of inclement weather. The games against Hannibal-LaGrange University that were scheduled for Friday have been moved to tomorrow, Thursday, March 9th . First pitch of the double header is scheduled for 4 p.m.
